Saudi King Abdullah has died

[Famous Mortimer]

He was ill since he took power.

[Famous Mortimer]

CIA should have found and groomed a general in the Saudi military and then enabled him to stage a coup when Abdullah finally croaked: someone who would let us keep our bases there but also crack down ruthlessly on Saudis funding radical Wahabism and terrorist groups and initiate a campaign to do away with the Sharia and codify rights for women, non-Muslims and other marginalized groups.

1 We don't have any bases anymore.

2 No such person exists

3 We can't get rid of "In God We Trust" on our coins, there's no chance of getting rid of Sharia in Saudi Arabia. Only of a more moderate interpretation.

[Famous Mortimer]

Abdullah is sadly the best leader Saudi Arabia could have realistically had.

Venezuela could have done better than Chavez.

That's the difference.

Still, I wish our statement on Abdullah's death hadn't been as gushing. A simple "condolences to his family and his country" would have been enough.

[Famous Mortimer]

Venezuela could have done better than Chavez.

Chavez was probably better than most if not all of his predecessors. I'm no fan of his, but we have to recognize that his rise was made possible by the failings of the established political class.

I would agree but there was nothing stopping Chavez from NOT stripping opposition mayors of their power and NOT putting opposition leaders in jail on trumped up charges. These aren't things that were demanded by the people.

Unlike in Saudi Arabia, where no one could undertake a campaign of secularization because they would be overthrown almost immediately.